*'''Yildirim Guest House''' [http://www.yildirimguesthouse.com] is steps from the Fethiye Marina and town centre. 17.50 TL per night, for dorm and 30 TL per person double or triple rooms, this includes breakfast, basic rooms (the hostel has six of them, as well as three dorms—a female one, a male one, and a mixed one) with showers, restroom, television, and internet. This is the only hostel in town with air-con dormitories. Hot water may not always work so check it out. Friendly and helpful staff. Air conditioning and laundry services are available for small additional charges. Smoking permitted outside. Laundry fon an additional 10 tl, home made diner 10 TL ,drinks are same price as shops.

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*'''Yildirim Guest House''' [http://www.yildirimguesthouse.com] is steps from the Fethiye Marina and town centre. 20 TL per night, for dorm and 30 TL per person double or triple rooms, this includes breakfast, basic rooms (the hostel has six of them, as well as three dorms—a female one, a male one, and a mixed one) with showers, restroom, television, and internet. This is the only hostel in town with air-con dormitories. Hot water may not always work so check it out. Friendly and helpful staff. Air conditioning and laundry services are available for small additional charges. Smoking permitted outside. Laundry fon an additional 10 tl, home made diner 10 TL ,drinks are same price as shops.

Contents

Understand

Fethiye is a tourist town with an international atmosphere. It has an excellent marina and good night life. The town also serves as an excellent base for touring the inland country-side, and is probably the only city in the world where you'll find sarcophagus in the streets. These pre-Roman Lycian relics are especially spectacular when floodlit at night. The town has a population of around 50,000 but the population increases dramatically during the high season, from April to end of October, when off-shore residents spend their summers at their second homes.

Climate

Summers are extremely hot with temperatures well above 40°C in July and August, you should drink plenty of water to keep hydrated which is important in a very hot place such as Fethiye. Winters are cool with temperatures around 14-20°C. Spring and Autumn are the wettest seasons, yet still very sunny, which is the best time to go for people who want a warm holiday that is not too hot like the summer, with temperatures around 20-28°C.

Get in

By bus

Fethiye has direct connections to many cities in the country including Marmaris, Bodrum, Antalya, Izmir, and Istanbul (which costs 60 TL pp and takes around 14 hours) among others.

By boat

A boat entering Fethiye's harbour.

Private cruise companies operate non-scheduled services to Marmaris and along the peninsula to Antalya.
Day trips on wooden sailboats, called "gulets" include lunch and stops at different places. Prices and quality of food vary so shop around.

"Before Lunch Cruises" provides excellent food on board its three day cruises. Do remember to bring your own towel, soap and shampoo. Bedding doesn't seem "fresh" but looks clean. Boat is very clean. Most people sleep on deck in the summer.

By plane

The nearest airports served by international airlines are at Antalya or Dalaman. Antalya is about three hours driving and Dalaman about one hour from Fethiye. There is a bus service from Dalaman Airport to Fethiye, run by Havaş[2].

By car

D400 highway links Fethiye with north (Akyaka, Marmaris, and onward to Muğla and Southern Aegean) and east (Antalya), along the Lycian coast in the latter case. However, from Antalya, there is also a mountain road (numbered D350—and E87 for part of its route) through sparse juniper woods of inner Lycia, that is in quite good condition (if not actually better than coastal highway) via Korkuteli, which also has a branch going north to Denizli. D350 significantly shortcuts coastal D400, which has a good share of windings on its way along the heavily indented coastline.

Get around

See

The cave tombs — located in the cliff on the south side of town

The Lycian sarcophagus — There are a number of stone sarcophagii carved in typical Lycian style scattered around the town, with one of the most preserved ones lying in the yard of town governor's office (kaymakamlık) at the main street and other on the middle of the road heading uphill towards the cave tombs and Kayaköy.

Do

Hiking - Fethiye marks the beginning of the Lycian Way - a 500 km marked hiking trail running to Antalya.

Tuesday Farmers' Market

Island Day Cruises - An armada of boats of all sizes leave their harbor berths each day at approximately 10:00AM and return at approximately 6:00PM. While you can charter the entire boat in advance, most are run on a first come first serve communal basis. Lunch is usually provided, and depending on the size of the boat prices can range from $10 to $30 for an entire day. Destinations during the cruise include local lagoons, beaches, sea caves and other features where you are given time to swim or explore the local islands.

Yacht charter in the Aegean Sea

Windward Islands [3], one of the worlds largest yacht charter companies, can take care of all charter requirements, from bareboat to luxury yacht in the Aegean Sea. Operating from 9 offices worldwide (USA, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Caribbean, Honk Kong and Dubai).

Paragliding Fethiye is one of the most popular places around Europe to try this extreme sport. The activity starts from Babadağ, a mountain around 1900 mt high, and ends on the beach after a nice trip above Oludeniz. There are many schools and training centers which can provide training even for fresh beginners, or you are free to enjoy tandem flights which include the pilot and a passenger. The following link belongs to a very professional school. [4]

Buy

Be informed before you buy a "Turkish" carpet. Do your homework before leaving home. Beware that the supply of Turkish carpets is getting low and Chinese copies are being sold. Also, real antiques are not allowed to leave the country.

Eat

Pasa Kebap has great meat and vegetarian options at good prices. Upstairs has cushion/floor seating but there is also lots of inside and outside table seating.
The fish market in the middle of town is surrounded by small restaurants that will cook your own fish to your liking, very reasonable and delicious.

Peymane, Eski Cami Sok. No. 7 (In the old town on Sokak 41 where it intersects with Sokak 43), ☎0252.614.0383. Cute little family owned place that is a little more expensive than some of the other restaurants in the area, but is still cheap and has more variety and better ingredients. They also have probably the best vegetarian options available in town including a daily special (which is sold at an absolute bargain of a price).Cheap.

Drink

Ayran is a popular yogurt drink some find refreshing. Beer is widely consumed, though neither Beer or Ayran have a special connection with Fethiye. The wines are acceptable, but generally not of a very high standard.

Sleep

Budget

Yildirim Guest House[5] is steps from the Fethiye Marina and town centre. 20 TL per night, for dorm and 30 TL per person double or triple rooms, this includes breakfast, basic rooms (the hostel has six of them, as well as three dorms—a female one, a male one, and a mixed one) with showers, restroom, television, and internet. This is the only hostel in town with air-con dormitories. Hot water may not always work so check it out. Friendly and helpful staff. Air conditioning and laundry services are available for small additional charges. Smoking permitted outside. Laundry fon an additional 10 tl, home made diner 10 TL ,drinks are same price as shops.

Mid range

Yacht Boutique Hotel[6] is located on the south side of town, close to the yacht pier and international port of entry. Very short walk to the bout tour docks and harbor attractions. Very clean and well furnished rooms with an outdoor pool/lounge. English speaking staff will help you with setting up local activities. Rooms start at around $100/night.

Splurge

Hillside Beach Club, Kalemya Koyu PK: 123, ☎+90 252 614-83-60, [1]. Large resort set on a private bay amidst pine trees, organizing the only international water ski cup in Turkey, with activities such as spa, tennis, fitness, aerobic, step, stretching, basketball, beach-volley, archery and water sports including wakeboard and scuba-diving.

Get out

The Blue Lagoon — a famous (perhaps the most famous in Turkey) beach area located in Ölüdeniz to south of Fethiye, with a pretty nice lagoon seperated from open sea by a sandbar. About 30 minutes away by dolmuş.

Saklikent Gorge — a stunning geological site located inland on the Teke Peninsula (between Fethiye and Antalya), about 40 km southeast of Fethiye. This is a great place for a leisurely hike. If you want to explore the gorge a bit further upstream, be prepared for some clambering and getting wet!

Lycian ruins — located on outer islands, take a boat from Ölüdeniz.

Kayaköy Village — a hiking destination, these are the ruins of a Greek settlement abandoned in 1923 when the governments of Turkey and Greece mandated population swaps. Features some well-preserved structures, including a church.

Butterfly Valley and Kabak — two isolated canyons bordering the seashore to the south of Fethiye. They both feature waterfalls. Butterfly Valley is hippie haven (though with the growing interference of the mass tourism) situated in a narrow canyon with almost no overland connection to the rest of the world, while remoter Kabak is the perfect place to escape the package tourist groups, and a great place on the Turkish Mediterranean to camp and have a truly laid-back experience.

Weekly boat tours around the spectacular Lycian coast, also known as "Blue Cruise", all the way east to Olympos can be arranged through numerous companies from Fethiye during the high season (April to October).